Alice Bailey - From Intellect to Intuition - III - The Nature of the Soul







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From Intellect to Intuition - Chapter Three - The Nature of the Soul





The relation of the soul to the Oversoul is that of the part
towards the Whole, and it is this relation and its consequent recognitions, which develop
into that sense of oneness with all beings and with the supreme Reality to which the
mystics have always testified. Its relation to the human being is that of the conscious
entity towards its medium of expression; of the one who thinks, towards the instrument of
thought; of the one who registers feeling, towards the field of sensuous experience, and
of the actor, towards the physical body - the sole means of contact with that particular
field of activity, the world of physical life. This soul expresses itself through two
forms of energy, that which we call the vital principle or fluid, the life aspect, and the
energy of pure reason. These energies are focused during life in the physical body. The
life stream centers itself in the heart, utilizing the blood stream, the arteries and the
veins, and animating every part of the [55] organism; the other stream, of intellectual
energy, centers itself in the brain, and utilizes the nervous apparatus as its medium of
expression. In the heart, therefore, is the seat of the life-principle; in the head is the
seat of the reasoning mind and of the spiritual consciousness, which latter is attained
through a right use of the mind. Dr. C. Lloyd Morgan says in connection with this word,
"soul:"
"In
any case what is currently understood by 'the soul-theory' has its roots in dualism. And
what some people mean when they speak of 'a psychology without a soul' is a psychology
other than dualistic... There is, however, a sense in which he may, under suitable
definition, speak of the soul as distinctive of that level of mental development at which
a concept of Spirit is within the field of reflective reference."
- Morgan, C. Lloyd, Life, Mind and Spirit, page 35.

Earlier in
the same book he says that:

"Each
of us is a life, a mind, and Spirit - an instance of life as one expression of
world-plan, of mind as a different expression of that world-plan, of Spirit in so far as
the Substance of that world-plan is revealed within us. The world-plan, through and
through, from its lowest to its highest expression, is manifestation of God; in you and me
- in each of us severally - God as Spirit is partially revealed."
- Morgan, C. Lloyd, Life, Mind and Spirit, page 32.

It is this
revelation of Deity that is the goal of the mystical endeavor and the object of the dual
activity of mind - God as life in Nature, God as love, subjectively, and as plan and as
purpose, and it is this that the unification, which meditation brings about [56] reveals
to man. Through its ordered technique, man discovers that unity which is himself. Through
it, he later discovers his relation to the universe; he finds that his physical body and
his vital energies are part and parcel of Nature itself, which is, in fact, the outer
garment of Deity; he finds that his ability to love and to feel makes him aware of the
love that pulses at the heart of all creation; and he discovers that his mind can give him
the key which unlocks for him the door of understanding and that he can enter into the
purposes and the plans which guide the Mind of God Himself. In fact, he arrives at God and
discovers God as the central Fact. Knowing himself to be divine, he finds the whole is
equally divine. Dr. F. Kirtley Mather of Harvard University has said in a most
illuminating article:

"That
there is an administration of the Universe cannot be denied. Something has determined and
continues to determine the functioning of natural law, the orderly transformation of
matter and of energy. It may be the 'curvature of the cosmos', or 'blind chance', or
'universal energy', or 'an absentee Jehovah', or an 'all-pervading Spirit', but it must be
something. From one point of view, the question: Is there a God? is promptly answered in
the affirmative."







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